They have to start somewhere... - 80%

And that is what Verbal Deception has done with this first CD. Many bands registered onto this website "have an EP that they sell at their shows", which is fine and all, because it gets them excepted right!? Well Verbal Deception now has their foot in the music industry door by releasing the Full Length.

First of all, the production of this CD is nothing to talk about at all, it fails miserably compared to their EP. The EP had more energy and atmosphere to this pirate metal style they are trying to achieve. Perhaps they made a mistake in making the production sound so clean, but I won't be the one handing these guys a record label contract down the road, so i am not to say. This CD from start to finish doesn't follow one style, which makes some tracks feel a little awkward compared to the rest, but also doesn't limit what their future holds in ones mind.

The guitarists (Kresho and Matt) show they can in-fact play guitar, and don't over power everything with distortion to try and hide this. The vocals (Kresho) do take on a monotone feeling as the CD progresses, but a true metal lover can respect this. He isn't straining his voice, which means we can expect many more releases from the band down the road. To many vocalist come out screeching and roaring to their voices limit, which lives them coughing up not only blood, but unused material he or she has probably written. The keyboards (Walt) are not overpowering, which is a good thing , they are used to set a mood and add variation to the songs structure , but aren't used as a backbone to the music. The keyboard, however, does give Verbal Deception this pirate/folk sound over all the other elements of the band, so expect them to stay throughout their career.

With all of that said, this CD will be good publicity for Verbal Deception. It's going to be a bit of a slap in the face for people who came across Verbal Deception in their early days, because the raw energy of their early recordings has "walked the plank". At the same time its going to draw in a new fan base, and leaving veteran fans drinking rum until they get to see them live, which will be the only way to get the original feeling that their first EP gave us all.